What Once Was
by ISwearAngelWasThere
Summary: Fifteen years later Mark finds his old films.


**For some reason I keep writing about Mark being sad. I don't know why. I love Mark. Anyway thanks to Maneating Lobster for editing and giving me suggestions! Please tell me what you think! I hope you like it!**

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Mark Cohen was just about to finish his newest documentary. He was just missing one clip. He got up and looked through his tapes again. It wasn't there. He opened the closet and took out a box of old tapes. Maybe the one he was looking for had been put in the wrong box. After looking through a few boxes he got to the last tape. The label was faded and he couldn't read it. He decided to watch it and see what it was.

The first things he saw were his shoes. The old, beat-up ones he used to wear when he lived in the city. The camera was still coming into focus but he could also make out the floor of his old loft. He could hear an out of tune guitar playing in the background. As the camera focused and was lifted up, the rest of the loft came into view. He saw the big metal table and the couch. Then the camera moved and he could see someone sitting by the window, playing guitar. As the camera got closer, the person turned towards it and Mark heard a voice he hadn't heard in almost ten years.

"Mark, get the camera out of my face. I'm trying to write a song." Roger turned back towards the window and started strumming his guitar again. Then it cut to a new scene. Angel and Mimi were laughing as they danced on a table at the Life Cafe. They looked so alive and happy. Mark hadn't seen them like that in a long time. The last time he saw them they were weak and tired and didn't look anything like the happy dancing people in the film.

Now Collins and Angel were dancing on the subway. At first the other people just stared at them as they swung around the poles. Eventually the strangers joined in and everyone was dancing and singing with them.

Next Maureen was on a stage, performing. The performance space was filled with people, most of them cheering for her.

"Moo with me!" She called out. There was silence. She mooed again. "Come on! Moo with me!"

Someone in the audience finally replied. "Moo!"

"Yes! Come on! Moo with me!" More people started to join in. "Yes!" she screamed. "Moooooooo! Moooooooo!" Mark could hear his own voice now, mooing from behind the camera. "Mooooooo! Moooooooooo!" Almost everyone was mooing. Maureen was jumping up and down. "Moo! Moo! Moo! Moo! Moo!" She signaled for them to stop. "Thank you!" Mark couldn't help but laugh at how excited she was. He missed her energy.

Then Mimi and Roger were kissing while everyone danced at the Life Cafe. Mimi had snow in her hair as they had just come in from a blizzard. They looked happy. Happier than he had seen them in a very long time.

Mark then saw himself sitting on the couch next to Joanne and Angel. Angel was laughing and Joanne looked amused. He watched himself get up and try to grab the camera. Maureen had taken it and started filming him.

"Maureen! Give it back!" Mark laughed as the film became blurry while Maureen dodged his grabs for the camera. He could tell that she was running around the loft. Angel, Joanne, and Maureen were laughing as he yelled at her. At one point he could see Collins and Roger standing by the window, chuckling. He must've eventually caught Maureen because the running stopped and the clip ended.

Mark watched the film all the way through. There were videos of everyone. Roger, Mimi, Angel, Collins, Maureen, Joanne. Even Benny made an appearance.

By the time the video finally ended Mark realized he was crying. So much had changed since the videos were taken. Angel had died less than a year after they met her. Then Mimi passed away in June of the following year and Roger died not long after her. Collins had been dead for almost 10 years. Mark had lost touch with Maureen and Joanne when he moved out of the city with his new wife, Laura. He didn't know where they were now, or even if they were still together.

He hadn't realized how much he missed his friends. He had forgotten how brightly colored Angel's clothes were, how crazy Maureen was. He'd forgotten what it was like to hear Roger always playing his guitar, trying to write his "one great song."

He missed them so much, but at the same time it felt good to watch it and relive the best year of his life. It hadn't mattered that he was unemployed and broke, or that his apartment was always freezing. What had mattered was that he had friends, good, close friends who he could always count on. He decided that he should show the video to Laura someday, since she would sometimes ask about his old friends. Mark was glad he had filmed so much. He knew that he would never forget them or anything they did.


End file.
